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‘My Favorite Apple Gear Feature Is Lame’

You know what they say about perspective, right? One man’s hamburger is another man’s steak. Or, so the story goes. I like different strokes for different folks, too.

All that means is that something you like may not be liked by everyone else. Or, conversely, something I don’t like might be wonderful for someone else. What’s your favorite iPhone, iPad, and Mac feature? Why?

On vs. Off

First, all three devices– iPhone, iPad, and Mac– have similar software we know, love or hate, but use; Safari, Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Messages, FaceTime, Photos, et al. Yet, each device has other features that many of Apple’s customers love, or love to hate.

Take Do. Not. Disturb. I love DND because I use it within its limits. Yet, I understand the sentiment of many Apple customers who want DND to have more features, and want it to work All. The. Time.

My phone rang at 5am again. It was another spam caller on the East Coast

I get those, too. Except with DND is on. When I find such a spam call I block it. I get fewer calls these days.

I can’t just turn off my phone whenever I feel like it because I have East Coast-based clients and business partners. I need to be able to get their texts, email notifications, and Hangouts pings — even if it’s before wake-up time.

Maybe he’s using a different model iPhone. I still get the texts, email, and whatever else is going on. It just doesn’t bother me when DND is on.

Gewirtz wants people to be able to reach him all the time.

This works fine — except for the spam. See, the thing is, I can’t separate the spam from my business partners.

I have this interesting iPhone policy I’ve used for the past decade. People ask me for my phone number and I say, “Sorry. My phone only dials out.” Most people get the hint. For others, I give them my phone number but I also keep their number and email in Contacts and use VIP to filter.

I know what you’re going to say. iPhones have do-not-disturb (DND), they now have Bedtime Mode with iOS 12, and they even have the mute switch on the side of the phone. And yes, they also have Block Caller, but if you haven’t previously blocked the caller, the spam comes through.

Spam comes through with or without DND. With DND on you don’t get the call. With DVD off you may get the call, but I notice that spam callers are rather easily to identify, then block.

Apple provides those services. They don’t always work. They’re incomplete. And they’re still based on the mindset of 20th century landline users.

I’m rather certain that nearly every feature you can think of in Apple software– or, almost anyone’s software– at times refuses to work. I’ve used DND every day since it came out and it has worked every time.

The rest of Gewirtz’s screed is little more than noise for more iOS– more features, more granular controls, more options, more settings. For example:

Mute Button – Blocks calls but vibrates, if on

Duh. Turn it off. No more vibrate.

Mute Button – Does not block texts

Mine, too. But nothing blocks texts; DND is about the notification sound.

Bedtime Mode – Does not block texts or calls

Maybe Apple named it Bedtime Mode for a reason. It’s an alarm, not a blocker. I know. This is all difficult to understand at times. What about calls from Favorites?

DND – does not block.

There’s a setting for that. One feature I like in Clocks is that it always plays an alarm. Always. DND doesn’t block Clock alarms. Why is that a good idea?

The real problem seems obvious.

Apple gets castigated because some software features do not have infinite numbers of settings and configurations. In all fairness, and based upon a few dozen iPhone-toting family members, a few hundred staff and faculty where I work, and many hundreds of students– iPhones, iPads, and Macs are complicated enough already.

Unless you’re one of those very lucky iPhone users who can power off your phone at night and not care if anyone needs to reach out to you, the rest of us are going to lose sleep over a do-not-disturb implementation that is disturbingly out of step.

I think those who are out of step are those who cannot turn off their devices. Someone owns you.

5G? Meh!

About Natalia Nowak

My husband, Nathan, and I have used Macs for nearly 25 years. We're teachers at a private school in Chicago, IL. I'm also the school's resident Mac system administrator, PC troubleshooter, and a diehard Mac diva and iPhone hacker. Read more of my articles here.